FP-01

Dengue virus (DENV) is endemic in 100 countries with the ability to impact nearly 50% of world population. DENV envelope (E) protein is responsible for viral attachment to host cells and has been target of various countermeasure development efforts. The current study focuses on a consensus computational approach to identify cross‐reactive, immunogenic DENV‐2 E peptides displaying promiscuity with a wide array of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) molecules. Four conserved peptides (FP‐1, FP‐2, FP‐3 and FP‐4) containing multiple CD8+ and CD4+ T cell epitopes were identified by employment of various immunoinformatics tools. FP‐1, FP‐2, FP‐3 and FP‐4 were estimated to bind with 227, 1787, 1008 and 834 HLA alleles, respectively. Root mean square deviation (RMSD) values obtained by molecular docking (CABS‐Dock) with 20 HLA alleles (10 each of HLA classes I and II) resulted into comparable RMSD values of identified epitopes with native peptides, which represents the natural presentation of epitopes to HLA molecules. These peptides were also found to be part of previous experimentally validated immunogenic peptides. Further, a dengue immunogenic peptide construct was generated by linking the four peptides, an adjuvant and a 6× histidine tag. The construct showed strong binding and stability with Toll‐like receptor. Collectively, these results provide strong evidence in the support of the immunogenic potential of the dengue immunogenic peptide construct.

This article reports a scalable process development for the production of alkyl esters through the esterification route by utilizing fly ash as a catalyst. The catalyst consisting of mixed oxides such as alumina, iron oxide, calcium oxide, magnesium oxide, and silica was employed for the esterification reaction without modification. The catalyst was evaluated for the conversion of feedstock containing variable amounts of free fatty acids, mono/dibasic acid, and alcohol/polyols into the corresponding alkyl esters. Three types of fly ash catalysts, viz., FS-1, FP-1, and FC-1, were chosen from three different industrial sources. Synthesis of dimethyl adipate was studied as a model reaction. FS-1 fly ash gave the highest yield of dimethyl adipate, whereas FC-1 gave a low yield of dimethyl adipate. The recyclability of FS-1 was evaluated for three cycles, and no loss of yield was observed. Furthermore, the catalyst FS-I was found to be capable of producing good yields for various esterification reactions with different substrates.